City Encourages Participation in Broadband Analysis

The City of Cedar Rapids has launched a community broadband survey to understand the unique broadband landscape of Cedar Rapids. The project is critical to identifying key issues associated with Internet use for small businesses and residents in Cedar Rapids. The survey will provide necessary information to understanding challenges and equity in being able to use the Internet. It will test broadband speed and gain data on broadband capabilities across the city. ESRI will analyze the data and provide recommendations on equity and reach. 

A City team will work through January 9 to encourage participation in the analysis from all quadrants and demographic groups. The survey can be accessed at https://crgis.cedar-rapids.org/SpeedTest/index.html. A dashboard with results from participants is available at: https://cr-broadband-crgis.hub.arcgis.com/.

Broadband coverage is the new critical infrastructure. Highlighted even more since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, events have shown that our personal and economic well-being increasingly relies on strong, affordable Internet access. Internet access is essential to support jobs, education, health care, economic development, and more.

The City of Cedar Rapids was selected to participate in this broadband availability analysis with the National League of Cities and the software company ESRI. This pilot, no-cost initiative pairs strategic partners with municipalities to work on projects that benefit their communities. This year, eight partners are working with 17 cities on projects. ESRI is the partner working with Cedar Rapids to develop and test GIS solutions in order to understand broadband challenges.